People wait outside the Parliament building while lawmakers pass the bill legalising marijuana, in Montevideo last week. The new bill aims to put the government in charge of the marijuana industry. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

URUGUAY wants to make a "contribution to humanity'' by legalising marijuana but will backtrack if the "experiment'' goes awry, President Jose Mujica has said.

Mr Mujica said he sees his country as a potential test case for an idea slowly gaining steam across Latin America - that the legalisation and regulation of some drugs could sap the cartel violence devastating much of the region.

KINGSTON, Jamaica:

The Opposition Jamaica Labour Party, says the plan by the Jamaican Government to decriminalise marijuana by year end is long overdue.

Decriminalisation would result in the abolition of criminal penalties and would require appropriate amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act.

Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives, Phillip Paulwell, yesterday confirmed that action would be taken this year in keeping with parliamentary approval.

Spokesperson on Justice, Alexander Williams, says the decision is a step in the right direction and the Opposition is looking forward to the parliamentary debate on the matter.

He says focus should now be placed on the full legalisation of marijuana for medical purposes.

WASHINGTON -- The federal government issued guidelines on Friday that officials said were intended to increase the financial services available to marijuana businesses that are legal under state laws.

Guidelines announced by the Treasury Department and a memo from a top Justice Department official were intended to ease concerns that the federal government would target banks working with marijuana-related businesses that are legal and regulated on the state level. Expanded banking access will enable them to function like traditional businesses, and implementing a reporting structure will allow the federal government to take a close look at how they operate.

When Mutabaruka took over MC duties from DJ Amber at Rebel Salute on Friday night, he was to change the tone of the event. It was time to see more of the veterans in the business of reggae.

Spouting his sharp humour, Muta chided freeloaders who called themselves 'press', and told the men to go buy refreshments for their women, before summoning the veteran Max Romeo, who belted out hits such as War Inna Babylon, Macabee Version, Three Blind Mice, Nobody's Child and Let The Power Fall On I.

Online ad industry wrestles with how to handle bumper crop of new ad budgets

Pot is legal in Colorado but not on Google and Twitter. At least not yet.

A million-dollar-a-day industry is budding out West, but marketers are trying to grapple with how to advertise the once illegal weed. Digital advertising giants like Google and Twitter aren’t open to sponsored search ads or tweets from small-business marijuana shops. Apple restricts that kind of content on its mobile app store. As a result, “potrepreneurs” will need to get creative in a hurry.

The entire industry is still exploring how to navigate the regulations —public policy and private-company restrictions— of marketing marijuana.

Richard Browne, Business Reporter

The legalisation of marijuana for recreational purposes in the state of Colorado, United States, has pushed prices up to US$400 (J$42,448) per ounce as demand quickly outpaced supply in that market.

The price spike has created a differential between legal Colorado marijuana and the illegal Jamaican product of some $41,988 per ounce, and has given even greater impetus to the drive to legalise the crop here.

Those efforts were previously held back as Jamaica was "always concerned about US policy", said Delano Seiveright, director for the Ganja Law Reform Coalition.

I get a lot of questions from readers about Barcelona’s cannabis clubs. Questions range from “How Can I get Membership at a Cannabis Club in Barcelona?” to “Is Weed Legal in Spain?” to questions about the club’s use of personal information and many others. Of course, there’s also no shortage of questions about the actual marijuana on offer in Barcelona. Because many of these questions follow a common theme, I thought this short but direct list of the 10 most important things you need to know about Barcelona’s cannabis clubs might help shed some light on what is – by necessity – a private industry.

Paraguay is thought to be the world’s second-biggest producer nation of Marijuana after Mexico, and responsible for 15 percent of global supply.

Has Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes been watching “Reefer Madness”?

That’s the burning question after the recently elected conservative leader responded to neighboring Uruguay’s decision to legalize marijuana with remarks reminiscent of the 1930s scaremongering anti-pot flick.

“I have seen former high school classmates suffer and die because of the effects of marijuana,” said Cartes, 57, explaining why his administration would not also be legalizing the soft drug.

The precipitous rise in public approval for legalized marijuana has accelerated over the last year. A spate of victories for cannabis proponents in early November was a fitting corollary to the Gallup poll a month earlier, revealing that 58 percent of Americans approve of marijuana legalization, and also seemed to confirm that the United States is on an inexorable march toward a mostly (if not entirely) regulated market for the plant: currently, 20 states plus DC permit either recreational or medical marijuana use, and cannabis industry experts predict that 14 more states will be added to that roster in the next five years.

Delano Seiveright, Guest Columnist

Unsurprisingly, a recent survey showed the majority of Jamaicans in support of ganja decriminalisation - a fillip to the growing local and international movement pushing for sensible reforms to our laws that will reduce human-rights abuses, spur economic activity by complementing existing industries, and creating new ones, especially in research and development.

The Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices survey commissioned by the Professor Henry Lowe-led Bio-Tech R&D Institute and Pelican Publishers and executed by prominent pollster Don Anderson and his team over the last several weeks, I pray, would be the finale to a drawn-out debate that has carried us around in glorious circles.